


Heartbreak makes companions of us all

by Iamthebad_wolf



Series: From out of the rift [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Aliens, Blood and Injury, Domestic, Don't Judge Me, F/M, Foursome - F/F/M/M, Guns, Humor, Injury, It's a Torchwood thing, Jack and Nova being cute, M/M, Medical, Multi, Orgy, Pregnancy, Sex Pollen, The sex is not described in detail and feature in one little bit of chapter 5, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:00:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamthebad_wolf/pseuds/Iamthebad_wolf
Summary: The rift is more active than usual, and weevils are being spat out everywhere. Someone is taking advantage of that fact and has created a weevil fight club.Unfortunately, nova's personal issues are affecting the investigation.So what happens when nova comes face to face with the man who caused her pain?
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Original Female Character(s)
Series: From out of the rift [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679191
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

"Jack? Ianto? You here?" Nova shrugs off her coat and dumps it on the coat rack as she looks around the empty hub. Gwen has the morning off, and Tosh called in sick meaning Nova had to come in early, much to Owen's annoyance. She was going to cook breakfast this morning. 

Jack rarely leaves the hub, and Ianto is pretty much always here if Jack is. They're a cute little couple, it's a shame Jack is against the idea somewhat. 

Sighing, Nova makes her way up towards Jack's office. The lights are out but she can hear movement coming from within. Two options: Jack and Ianto are doing the deed, or something's broken in. Probably the former, but Nova's hand rests on her gun as she knocks on the door. "You guys in there?"

The shuffling noise pauses, and then Jack pokes his head out of the door. All Nova can see of him is his topless torso. "Hey. Hi Nova. Wasn't expecting you yet."

Nova gives him a knowing smile. "Go back to doing whatever it is you were doing-"

"Who says I wasn't doing him?" Ianto's voice sounds from somewhere behind Jack, and causes Jack to giggle. 

"-and I'll get on with my work." Nova laughs and cringes at the same time as an image she really didn't need to imagine pops up in her head. "I was just checking to make sure I wasn't here alone."

Nova shuts the door, and goes back to her desk, thankful she hadn't heard anything else. But she puts on headphones and music as the two get loud enough for her to hear from her desk. 

The rift has been a lot more active recently, and it's worrying. Going back over the data Tosh has been collecting shows the rift has been spitting out a lot more junk. Thankfully most of it has been exactly that: junk, but there have also been more weevil sightings. Nova goes through police and hospital records from the past week and discovers there have been several people admitted to hospital with weevil-like wounds. At 4am this morning, a young man was found dead by the docks. 

Nova jumps as a hand lands on her back. She spins in her chair to see Owen grinning madly at her. She pulls off her headphones and hits him on the arm. "Don't do that!" 

Truthfully, she wasn't scared, she just hadn't been expecting it. 

"Sorry." Owen says, but the smile on his face says he isn't sorry at all. 

Nova sighs. "A man has been found dead by the docks. He's been taken to the hospital, but it sounds like it was a weevil." She tells him, knowing that with Jack and Ianto preoccupied with each other, Owen is the most senior member here. "Plus, there have been a worrying amount of weevil sightings in the last week."

Owen's smile falls, his eyes flickering to the screen to check the data Nova's been looking at. "Let's go check it out. Where's Jack?"

Nova looks up at Jack's office, and then back at Owen, a knowing look in her eyes. "Where do you think?"

Owen nods, not surprised in the least bit. "Ah, helping Ianto with research."

Nova laughs. "Is that what it's called nowadays?"

*******************

The hospital lets them into the morgue as soon as they show their badges to security. Everyone in Cardiff knows Torchwood, even though they're meant to be a secret organisation. Owen leads the way, having been here many many times. He also knows what he's looking for, and as soon as he sees the body of the young man, he sighs. Nova knows that look.

“So it is weevils?” She asks.

“Yeah.” Owen replies. He knows what this means. On the whole, weevils are generally passive. They have found their own little ways to survive, and stay out of the general public's way. But if a human stumbles across their den, or if the weevil is new, then they get violent. 

The injuries to the body are gruesome and extensive. Looking at it makes Nova feel like she might throw up.

The doctor looking after the body comes in and starts telling the pair of them all the gory details about the lad's death. Even for a weevil attack, the wounds are vicious. The lad's throat was practically shredded, the only thing keeping his head attached to his body is his windpipe and his spinal cord. Part of his intestine is missing, and wasn't recovered at the side of the incident, meaning the weevil probably ate it. The rest of his body is covered in gashes and claw marks. Blood soaks what little clothing is still attached to his body. One shoe is missing, both sleeves and most of his left trouser leg. 

The boy is young. 

"Have his parents been informed?" Nova asks as the doctor finishes informing them of the copious injuries. 

The doctor nods. "Yes, they have."

"What was his name?" Owen adds. 

"Jonathan." 

Nova sighs. Jonathan was too young to meet such a gruesome death. "Do we know why he was at the docks at such an hour?" 

The doctor shakes her head. "You'll have to talk to the police about that. But, he's the right age to be a uni student. Maybe he was out with some mates?" 

Nova and Owen share a look. It's highly unlikely Jonathan would be out with mates, and then left there after being mauled to death by an alien. Someone would have reported his death a lot earlier. 

"Thank you." Nova tells the doctor, as she and Owen turn and leave. 

Outside, by the SUV, Owen is going over the facts again in his head. "Let's check out the scene by the docks."

"The police will have cleaned up by now." Nova points out, getting into her seat. 

"I know, but they might have left something behind." Owen points out. "You've got the report right? You know where he was found?"

Nova nods. "Yep. I can get us there." 

Looking at the body did something to Nova's body. She had felt nauseous looking at the body, and now, travelling in the SUV, is making the feeling worsen. She takes deep breaths, and tries to focus on her work, but it's not long before she's telling Owen to pull over. 

Gagging, she falls out of the SUV. Hands on her knees, she stares at the floor. She's never been affected like this before. What is going on with her?

Owen comes over and rubs soothing circles on her back. "You alright?"

Taking a deep breath, Nova stands up straight, the nausea fading away. "Yeah, sorry. Was just feeling a bit sick."

Owens hand goes to her forehead. "You're a bit warm, but nothing to suggest a fever or anything."

Nova sighs. "It was probably just something I ate disagreeing with me."

"Did you get a breakfast sandwich from that place again?" Owen asks, as the two of them climb back in the SUV. 

"No, I grabbed an apple from the flat. Wasn't feeling all that hungry."

"Hmm." Owen frowns. "I'll check you over when we get back to the hub. Are you going to be okay to carry on?"

Nova nods, adamant. "'Course. It was just a blip. I'll be fine."

True to her word, the two of them get to the docks without any incidents. They park up and climb out, going to the scene. It's still taped up and the police clean up team are just finishing off their jobs as the two walk over. 

"Torchwood?" One officer asks, not looking surprised, just tired. 

Owen nods, Nova smiling a little at the officers exasperation. "How did you know?"

"I think the embossing on the SUV kind of gives it away." Nova points out, nudging Owen with her elbow. She'll have to ask Jack about that when they get back. Why put the company name on a car when you want to keep that company secret?

"That and we've been expecting you." The officer says. 

The two Torchwood officers frown at that. "Really?"

"Yup. Follow me." The cleaner leads them to the back of a small van, and holds up a bag with a tooth in it. "We found this about five meters from the body, buried in the actual dock itself. No where near the victim. But it's not a human tooth, very animalistic, yet no one can figure out which animal. That's your area of expertise, right?" Although the general public don't know exactly what it is that Torchwood do, they know they deal with the unusual.

Owen takes the sample bag, and studies the tooth for a few seconds. The look he gives to Nova tells her that it's a weevil tooth. "Anything else?"

"No, just that." 

Owen nods, and turns away, going back to the SUV. "Let's get back to the hub. I can run tests on this tooth, see if it gives us anything."

"Could it? What could a tooth tell us?"

"Well, if there's a strange coating on it, it could suggest the weevil has been drugged or poisoned, or something else is in its system. And other things. We'll just have to wait and see."

Nova nods, letting Owen drive them back to the hub. She is extremely glad when they park up, and go.back in, collapsing onto her chair with a hand to her head. 

"You alright?" Ianto asks, patting her on the shoulder. 

"Yeah, just a slight headache."

Suddenly something smashes in the medbay. Everyone turns to see Owen standing completely still, a broken glass by his feet. The hub falls into silence, waiting for Owen to move. 

When he does, he runs over to Nova, and grabs her hand. Ignoring everyone else's sudden bombardment of questions, Owen pulls her into the medbay and closes off the medbay behind them, so no one else can get in. 

"Uh… Owen?" Fear thrums in Nova's chest. Owen is acting strange: refusing to meet her eyes, blocking everyone else out. "What's wrong?"

Owen pulls a scanner over. 

"Owen, talk to me. You're scaring me."

Owen pulls out a needle and takes some blood from her, and begins testing it, before scanning her. "Have you been experiencing any stomach cramps?"

Nova frowns. What is going on? "Uh… some, these last few days. I thought it was just my time of the month."

"And did you have any bleeding?" Owen is in full doctor mode, something Nova has never experienced before. Every time he's patched her up, helped her out when injured, he's always soft, jokey, light around her. This Owen is closed off. 

"No. It's late, by about two weeks now. But my cycle has never been regular…" Suddenly it hits Nova. She realises exactly why he's asking. 

"Owen…." Her eyes swell with tears as she stares at her boyfriend, her doctor, her lover. "Owen, please…." But he doesn't look at her. 

The test on her blood finishes, and Owen goes over and checks the results. His head drops between his shoulders as he reads what the test says. 

"Owen, please. This can't be real. Tell me it isn't real."

The scanner also concludes it's little test, and Owen swings it around to show Nova. A tear runs down her face as she looks at the scan of herself, a little right dot blinking between her hips.

"Nova, you're pregnant."

*******************


	2. Chapter 2

"Jack!" 

Nova watches from the seat by her desk as Jack runs down to the med bay. Owen has finished testing the weevil tooth, and clearly needs to talk to Jack about what the results show.

Tosh turns to look at Nova as soon as their boss is out of sight. "Okay, so what happened?"

Nova has barely spoken since she left the med bay after talking her options through with Owen. 

_"You could terminate."_

__

__

_"I can't kill a baby!"_

__

__

_"Then what? If you carry that baby to term and keep it, one of us, probably you, will have to quit this job!"_

__

__

_"What?"_

__

__

_"Think about it. We can't have a baby in the hub every day, so one of us is going to have to stay at home to look after the thing."_

__

__

_"Don't call it a thing!"_

__

__

. _"I can't have kids Nova! My mum was such a messed-up bitch that… I don't want to mess up ours."_

__

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_"Owen…."_

__

__

_"Nova. We cannot have a kid. Not now, anyway. Maybe in a few years but… not now."_

__

__

_"How far along am I?"_

__

__

. _"Four weeks, maybe five."_

__

__

_"Then we have time to decide what to do. We can talk to Jack about it, learn what the best option would be."_

__

__

_"Nova… this job. The amount of radiation, disease, guns, violence that we are subjected to… it may be better to terminate since one of those things could kill it anyway."_

__

__

_"Like I said, we have time."_

__

__

_Nova had stormed out of the med bay after that and curled up on her chair, where she had been ever since. Owen had not come to check on her once._

Nova stares at Tosh and holds out a hand for Tosh to grab. Tosh can see the pain and confusion in her friend’s eyes, so takes it and grips it tight. 

"Tosh, I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations!" Tosh says immediately, but then catches the look on Nova’s face. "Not congratulations?"

"I don't know Tosh. Owen wants to terminate, but I can't do that! I can't kill a baby! But this job… it's not suited to having a baby or a family. Hell, we couldn't even date outside of the job if we wanted to."

"Oh Nova." Tosh slides her chair over to Nova’s and gives her friend a hug. The hug breaks Nova, and she cries into Tosh's shoulder. "It'll be okay."

Jack chooses that moment to enter the main hub from the med bay, a stern look on his face. "Everyone, we've got weevil kidnappers about."

Gwen looks up from her station. "What?" 

"The tooth we found at the docks showed massive amounts of sedatives were in the creature’s system. Flecks of blood on the tooth were definitely weevil and showed 2% of the weevils blood were external drugs only found here on earth." Owen says, standing behind Jack, as he pulls his gloves off. 

"Who would kidnap weevils?" Tosh asks, looking around the room to see if anyone has an answer. 

Nova frowns. "We had a case a bit like this back on my earth. Men were kidnapping weevils for a weevil fight club."

"And with rift activity spiking, and more weevils being spat out, someone could have easily found them and started a fight club." Tosh finishes. 

"But who would fight a weevil?" Ianto frowns. Those aliens have teeth that can't give small wounds. It's rip your throat out or nothing. 

"The idle rich, with more money than will to live." Nova shrugs. The people on her earth who had done all of this had been idiots, but she had also been able to see their point. They had all the money they needed, could afford anything they wanted, and because of that, life became almost pointless. So, they turned to risking their lives for fun. Which is kind of what she does anyway, only she does it for a job, to save people. In a way, that made it worse, didn't it?

Jack frowns. "Okay. Me, Ianto and Owen will go and look for these weirdos. Gwen and Tosh, question Nova, try to help her remember anything from her world that could help us."

Owen locks eyes with Nova before turning to get his coat. He nods, and she nods back. She understands. She needs to be careful. Whether or not they decide to keep this baby, she still needs to do her best to look after both herself and the child. Staying in the hub will be annoying, but it's where she will be safest.

The boys leave, and Gwen and Tosh sit on their desks, pulling open websites to try and search for whoever could be doing this. "Okay, Nova, what can you remember about your case?"

Nova spins in her chair, and pulls her jumper up to her chin, shivering a little when she remembers. "It was started by a man named Gregory Hastings. He was a millionaire and owned a company by the docks. He was basically an owner of warehouses, but owned all of them by the docks, so everyone had to rent them off him. One of the warehouses was across the streets from his flat, and he had turned it into this underground fight club. They would abduct weevils and take them to this warehouse. Drug the weevils and then men would come and fight them. People would bet on how long the man in the cage would last, if he'd get injured, killed, or come out unscathed. The one who lasted the longest in the cage that evening would go home with a lot of money. Something like £1000 per person who entered the cage with the weevil."

Tosh nods, writing everything down, and searching for the name Gregory Hastings. When that comes up blank she searches for warehouse owners near the docks. 

"Okay, and before we go any further, what is going on with you an Owen?" Gwen interrupts. 

Nova pauses. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you two have been doing really well, you're really cute together, but today you just seem… off? I don't know."

Nova sighs, looking to Tosh who gives her a reassuring smile. "I'm pregnant, and we don't know whether to keep the baby or not."

"Oh my god, really?" Gwen gasps. "But I thought Owen didn't want kids?"

Nova groans. "He doesn't. That's the problem. We're always careful whenever we have sex, but accidents happen. Owen wants to terminate but I don't, and it's just all very complicated right now." 

Gwen leans over and rests her hand over Novas. "Look, whatever happens, Owen will support you. We've all seen the way he looks at you. You dropped into this world and made his life so much better, so much more interesting and he wouldn't change you for the world. Think about what you want, and Owen will be right there with you no matter what."

Nova smiles, tears welling in her eyes. (Stupid hormones.) "Thank you. I needed that."

Gwen smiles. "And for the record? I think you'd make great parents." 

*******************

The week passes slowly. The teams time is divided between gathering up rogue weevils constantly being spat out of the rift, and trying to find whoever is running the weevil fight club. It's a lot of work, and everyone is exhausted when the weekend finally arrives. Nova still hasn't told Owen she's decided to keep the baby, and neither of them have told Jack or Ianto. Jack knows something is up, but whenever he goes to question either Owen or Nova, Tosh and Gwen ask questions and drag them away from their boss. 

On Saturday evening, the team meets up for a meal out, with Gwen bringing Rhys along. The seven of them are spread around a large table in a fancy restaurant, with Nova sat between Ianto and Rhys. She tried to ignore the smell of cheese wafting over from the other side of the table where Owen is eating a cheese and mushroom risotto. (The morning sickness has hit her hard, and she has thrown all of the cheese out of the flat because the smell of it makes her gag, and Owen is taking this opportunity to eat it before it is banned once again.)

Rhys is a nice guy, and the two of them he along well. Somehow the topic of conversation turns to family, and Rhys is loving it. 

"Well, ever since me and Gwen got married our parents keep asking about grandkids. I've always wanted kids, and Gwen did too until this job. She worries about it because it is dangerous. But I tell her that being in a team as big as this, she doesn't have to worry. Someone is always going to have her back. And anyway, I'm going to be at home whenever Gwen needs to come in, and she can always work shorter days, or just less days. Jack isn't unreasonable. They're friends, he'd understand if she wanted to work shifts."

Hearing Rhys babble on about kids makes Nova realise that it could be possible to work this job and have a family. It'll be a lot of work, both she and Owen might have to sacrifice a few hours here and there, and they would certainly be more tired than usual at first. But once their kid was at school it would become easier.

Owen caught her eye and smiled at her, seeing she was having fun, and getting along with Rhys. Granted, Owen had never really liked the man, but he couldn't dictate who Nova was friends with (as she had reminded him many, many times).

Nova smiles back. 

Tonight she's going to talk with Owen, and tell him she's keeping the baby.

*******************


	3. Chapter 3

"I really like the name Connie." 

Owen frowns and looks over at Nova. Nova sits on top of the bed in an over-sized shirt she wears to bed. She's flicking through the news on her phone. "....Okay?"

"Don't you think it's a cute name?" She asks, not looking up. She doesn't want to look at his face, see his reaction. It'll be easier if she doesn't know what's coming and just gets it over with. 

"Yeah, it's a nice name, but…" Owen sits down on the bed next to her. "What's brought this on?"

"I was just thinking, if the baby's a girl…"

"Nova…" Owen groans. They haven't decided whether or not they're keeping the baby yet. 

Nova looks up at him, her face stern. She's made up her mind. "No Owen. I'm keeping the baby."

"Nova, you know what that means…"

"Yes, I've thought about it, I know what it means. But I was talking with Rhys-"

"Bloody Rhys." Owen hates that man.

"-and he mentioned something that made me realise that we can do this job and have a baby. And once they are old enough to go to school, it won't be so tough on us either."

Owen stares at the floor and says nothing. 

"Please Owen. I want this baby."

"I'm not father material."

"So?" 

Owen frowns, turning to Nova. "So I shouldn't be a father. I can't have a kid!"

"Owen, as far as I know, I'm not made to be a mother. I was certainly never hoping on having a kid this young. But I may never get this chance again, and we don't know what kind of parents well end up being unless we take this chance." Nova takes Owens hands. "Owen, we may both mess the kid up a little, but all parents do. We both had screwed up childhoods to know what we need to avoid when it comes to raising our baby."

But Owen is freaking out. She can see it in his eyes. Her sappy speech has won over his heart but not his brain. Getting to his feet, he paces. "God Nova. This is huge."

"I know." 

It'll affect everything."

"I know."

"We've only been dating a couple of months."

"I know."

"And…"

"Owen!" Nova snaps. Owen turns to look at her, looking more than a little stressed. "Stop panicking. We'll talk to Jack on Monday and tell him about it then. But everything is going to work out fine."

Owen nods, and collapses into bed. This is going to change everything.

*******************

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little.chapter!
> 
> I realised while writing this that I've made Rhys and Gwen be married, which is after Owen dies. I'm not killing Owen, so I guess I'm just picking a choosing which bits of canon I want to include, especially since I'm basing this story off of an episode from season one. Oops


	4. Chapter 4

Monday is hectic to say the least. At around 4am, Owen gets a call to tell him and Nova to come into work. They do exactly as they're told, only pausing to gulp down some food so they're ready for the day. 

When they get into work, everyone else is already there, and are checking over their guns. Must be serious indeed. Tosh stands off to the side, checking over her gadgets and preparing a rather large metal box. As soon as she sees Nova has arrived, her eyes light up and she beckons her over. 

"What's going on?" Nova asks, biting back a yawn. 

"About a dozen weevils have appeared out of nowhere by the docks. And across the other side of town a section of rift has opened spitting out random junk. I'm going after the junk, Gwen, Ianto and Jack are going after the weevils." She explains, handing Nova a device which Nova immediately starts preparing. 

"Nova, you're with us, and Owen, you go with tosh." Jack orders, not even wishing his colleagues a 'good morning'.

"I'd rather come with you, Jack. You might need a medic. Plus, Nova is better with junk than me." Owen replies, loading his gun and switching on the safety. 

"Yeah, I'd rather go with tosh." Nova agrees.

"Fine." Jack frowns but doesn't question it. Thankfully he doesn't see the look that passes between Nova and Owen, but tosh does. She says nothing. 

"Right, go!"

*******************

Collecting junk is straightforward. Tosh and Nova climb into Tosh's car and begin making their way across the city. 

"So, what happened back there?"

Nova turns to face Tosh, her face a picture of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You and Owen swapping places. Is it to do with the baby?" Tosh asks, glancing at Nova briefly, but mainly keeping her eyes fixed on the road. 

Nova smiles, a hand resting on her still flat stomach. There's no bump yet, and won't be for another couple of months. "Yeah. We've decided to keep the baby."

"Oh my god, that's wonderful!" Tosh squeals, getting so excited she nearly crashes into a wall.

"Yeah. We've still got to talk to Jack about it, but I think it's going to work out great." Nova feels only relief and excitement talking about the baby, where she used to feel fear and anticipation. Even if Jack sacks her - which she highly doubts - she's already dedicated her whole adult life to Torchwood, so she will be perfectly okay with moving on to something different. She's made a difference, and if her time has come to an end, that's okay. It means she gets to spend more time with her family.

"So, are you two going to get married now, as well?"

"God no!" Nova laughs. "And that's something we agree on."

Tosh pouts. "Why not?"

"Just because we're having a baby doesn't mean we need to get married. Plus, with neither of our parents around there's no one to stare disapprovingly at us every time someone brings up marriage." Nova explains. 

"But you'd be so beautiful!" 

"Maybe." Nova shrugs. "But marriage is basically just a piece of paper, isn't it? We can get married any time we want by going to a registrar's office and signing our names. Besides, we might have a big white wedding one day, but we don't want that yet." 

Tosh nods, disappointed but understanding. She had hoped she could be the maid of honour or something. "I suppose."

"We nearly there?" Nova asks, after a minute or two of silence. 

Tosh nods, and pulls up to the curb. They are on the outskirts of the city, and the tightly packed city streets have been traded for spread apart houses with large fields behind them. They can't go any further in a car, because the junk has been spat out of the rift and into one of these fields. 

They climb out, metal boxes in arms and make their way towards where the energy signals are coming from. Tosh spots the pile of junk first. But the closer they get the more they realise that it's a lot more junk and a lot more spread apart. It probably covers a fifth of the area of the field, and they spend the next two hours cleaning it up. 

*******************

The others are having a bit less luck than tosh and Nova. Once they get to the docks they can easily see the weevils gathered there, but there are a lot more than they had prepared for. Guns don't kill weevils, just piss them off more. Thankfully, the weevil spray that Ianto sprays into the air disperses most of them. Ten or so scatter towards the sewers, able to smell the scent of other weevils, but about five remain up on the docks, snarling at the team. Four against five, sounds like an okay fight, if it weren't for the fact it usually takes two officers to down one weevil. So it's more like ten against four (or five against two, etc. Fractions and ratios blah blah blah).

Owen starts the fight, going straight for the weevil that's running at him. It hits him square in the chest, it's claws digging in as it fights his hold. He sprays the weevils spray right into the weevils nose and it drops like a rock.

Gwen has a little more difficulty. Being slightly smaller than the men, and a lot smaller than most of the weevils, she is the weakest one here. The weevils easily overbalance her and send her tumbling to the floor. She lands hard, the wind knocked from her chest. It's sharp claws rip into her upper arms but those are the only injuries she sustains before Owen whacks the creature around the head with a large brick. The weevil stumbles, disoriented but is otherwise fine. Gwen shoots the thing in the chest, before Owen wrangles it and knocks it out with the weevil spray. Two down, three to go. 

Jack doesn't survive very long. As the head of his little group, he exerts some sort of energy the alpha weevil had recognised as soon as Jack left the car. The alpha weevil charges for him, teeth ripping through Jack's throat before Jack can even try to defend himself. 

“No!” Ianto, stunned, backs away, shooting at the thing, but the other two weevils pin him, and he gets claws gashing his neck and back, and a set of teeth in his chest. He manages to spray one weevil - the one that bit him in the chest - and that weevil collapses, but he still has the other on him. 

The alpha weevil is just about to attack him when Jack stumbles to his feet. He sees the danger Ianto is in, and so, in a reckless moment of heroism, jumps onto the weevils back. The weevil fights to get Jack off, but can't get a good grip. The creature stumbles around, shaking, doing anything to try and dislodge Jack. Jack ends up with claw marks all over his forearms, but doesn't loosen his grip for a second. Just as Jack's arms are beginning to tire, the weevil pitches over backwards and falls into the icy sea, taking Jack with him. 

"Jack!" Gwen screams, watching her boss go overboard. But she puts her worry for her friend aside as she and Owen rush to Ianto's side. Cuffed and drugged, the weevils they had been fighting aren't going anywhere.

Ianto is losing a lot of blood, his suit soaked, ripped, and ruined. Gwen rushes to him, and pulls the weevil off him, which causes Ianto to cry out and collapse. Gwen sprays the weevil directly in the eyes, and then in the mouth, and just like that, the fight stops. 

"Ianto, mate. Keep looking at me. You're going to be fine." Owen pants, ignoring the blood running down his own arms as he presses large bandages to the deep wound in Ianto's chest. It's high, and closer to his shoulder than his heart, but even though it hasn't hit any major organs, there's still a risk of bleeding out. 

"Jack… he went… he's in the sea…" Ianto pants out, his face screwed up tightly in pain. 

"I know, I saw. He'll be fine." Gwen reassures him, helping Owen keep pressure on the wounds. "You know Jack."

Frankly, they're all worried about him. But Jack can come back from the dead, Ianto can't, so they forget about their boss in favour of getting Ianto to the SUV. They lie Ianto down on the backseat, and Owen kneels in the footwell as Gwen starts to drive. They get back to the hub in record time. 

By the time Owen finishes patching up Ianto, having sutured 40 stitches into the man's back and chest, he is feeling a little woozy himself from the bloodloss. Gwen has managed to get the bleeding on her arms to slow down a little, and so they work on patching up Owen before starting on Gwen. 

The whole time, Ianto lies unconscious on the bench.

"Thanks for just leaving me!" Jack yells as he limps into the hub, a large gash on his leg leaving a trail of blood behind him. He's soaked to the bone and freezing, but he doesn't seem to care, instead making a beeline to where his lover lies unconscious. 

"Sorry, but Ianto was the priority. He can't come back if he dies! You can!" Owen grumbles, wrapping a large bandage around Gwen's right arm. He still has to do her left arm. 

"Is he going to be okay?" Jack's cold and wet fingers trail down Ianto's cheek. He doesn't seem to notice that the other two are injured, and there is still no sign of Tosh and Nova. 

"He'll be fine. He's just drugged to keep him under right now. I'll wake him up in a bit." Owen tells Jack. 

Jack nods, a violent shiver wracking through him. 

Owen sighs at the state of his boss. "How's your leg?" 

"It'll be fine in an hour." Jack replies quietly, eyes still fixed on Ianto. That's when he chooses to look up. "Have you heard anything from Tosh and Nova?"

"I called them about ten minutes ago. They're heading back now." Gwen replies, much to Owen's shock. He had been too busy stitching up Ianto to realise Gwen had been calling the others. 

Tightly wrapping a bandage around Gwen's arm, Owen slumps onto a stool. The adrenaline rush from fighting the weevils, and then having to patch up his teammates has left him feeling drained. Worry fills him for Nova. He had tried to put her on the safer path, but this is Cardiff, and Torchwood. Anything can happen in the space of ten minutes, and he isn't going to be able to calm his panicking mind until she is back in the hub, safe, and in his arms.

Gwen starts making coffee, while Jack goes out to the SUV and starts transferring the drugged weevils to the cells. By the time he's done and Gwen has handed out the cups of coffee, Owen thinks it's time to bring Ianto out of the drug induced slumber he’s in. 

“Hello?” Nova’s voice rings out through the hub as the alarms blare, signalling the cog door is rolling aside. 

Owen’s head snaps up and he rushes over to her, taking in her lack of injury. He tiredly scoops her into a hug. 

“Well, this is nice.” Nova jokes, slight confusion on her features. What's brought this on? 

When Owen pulls back, Nova sees the bandages on his arms, and gently holds his arm to inspect it. There's no sign of blood leaking from the injuries underneath, so he should be okay with time. “What happened?”

“Those bastard weevils put up more of a fight than we were expecting.”

“Oh god. Is everyone okay?” Nova is now very glad she didn't go. One hand unconsciously falls to her lower belly, which is still flat for now.

Owen shakes his head. “Ianto got pretty badly injured.”

Nova rushes into the med bay to see her unconscious teammate. But she can see the bandages, the stitches, and knows that Owen has patched him up. She has a soft spot for Ianto, mainly due to her own world having a Ianto, and the guilt for failing him. She won't fail this one.

“He’s going to be alright though?” Nova asks.

Jack looks up and nods. “Yeah. Owen was just about to bring him round.”

Nova and tosh stand to the side of the med bay, watching as Owen slowly weans Ianto off the drugs keeping him under. Ianto wakes gradually, finally coming to with a groan. A hand snakes up to his chest, feeling the thick bandage that covers it. 

“Ow.” He groans. His welsh accent is thicker due to his sleepiness.

Jack smiles, and holds his hand tightly.

Owen, once sure that Ianto will be alright, leaves Ianto in Jack’s capable hands. He lets Tosh and Nova lead him back into the main room of the hub. Together, Owen and Nova crash onto the couch, and Tosh sits on her chair at her desk. He tells them what happened.

“Geez.” Nova breathes. “I'm glad you're okay.”

Tosh nods, agreeing.

The three of them sit there, and just talk about nothing for half an hour, waiting for Jack, Ianto and Gwen to reemerge from the med bay. When they finally do, Jack is keeping a tight hold of Ianto, and deposits Ianto onto the couch next to Nova and Owen.

“I think we’ve all earned a few days off.” Jack says, mainly talking to Ianto. He isn't going to let Ianto do anything taxing until he begins to heal up.

“Before we go, can we have a word with you.” Nova pipes up.

“Uh, yeah.”

“In private.”

“Oh, okay.” Jack leads Nova and Owen into Jack's office. 

“What was that about?” Ianto groans out, an arm resting protectively against his chest.

“Novas keeping the baby.” Tosh says.

Ianto’s eyes go wide. “What baby?!”

Gwen and Tosh smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i cant quite remember how weevil spray works, so i just said it had the power to knock a weevil out
> 
> sorry for any mistakes
> 
> thank for reading : )


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a few snippets of.life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, hello. Been a while. Sorry. 
> 
> Uni has been dragging me down, I started working on another fic, and my own original story so I completely forgot about this story waiting to be finished. 
> 
> Whatever original idea I had for this story has been forgotten, so who knows what's going to happen next

“Why are you still awake?”

Nova looks around and smiles at Owen, who’s short hair is sticking up at odd angles. His eyes are dark with sleep, his voice groggy. It's 4am, and Nova is sitting on the couch where she has been the whole night, wrapped in their largest and fluffiest blanket, eating a tub of icecream with a spoon.

“I couldn't sleep.” Nova shrugs, defending herself. Owen flops down on the couch next to her, and steals her spoonful of ice-cream that she had been about to eat. She scowls but says nothing.

“Probably because you're hopped up on sugar.” he says through a mouthful of ice-cream.

Nova sighs and lays her head on his shoulder. “I keep craving ice-cream at the moment. And my stomach just kept growling at me, so i couldn't ignore it.”

Owen smiles at Nova, understanding what she’s going through, at least from a doctor's perspective. Nova’s just entered her 7th week and her morning sickness is beginning to peak. There are very few foods she can keep down during the day, and so she’s finding herself craving the things that she can stomach. She’s also getting very hungry, and he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night to find her munching on salt and vinegar crisps, ice cream, banana bread, or chicken nuggets. On the few occasions they've gone out drinking (Owen drinking the alcohol and Nova sticking to water and driving them home afterwards) Owen has drunkenly ordered Nova huge chicken nugget orders from mcdonalds. 

They're getting nowhere on the case, and work has quietened down quite a lot more recently, so Nova and Owen have been given a lot more time off than normal. Jack can't promise that this will continue the whole way through the pregnancy, but he’s given them now as Jack knows that early pregnancy is one of the most dangerous times for the baby and the less stress Nova is under the better.

“What you watching?”

“Something called Merlin. I found it online and it's quite fun. I mean, terrible writing, but it's fun.”

“Isn't that about King Arthur and the knights of the round table?”

“Not yet it isn't?” Nova hits Owen with a cushion. “Spoilers, much!”

***********************

“Weevil sighting!” Jack yells, rushing through the hub. He grabs his trenchcoat and slips it on. Gwen, ianto, owen and tosh all rush over, getting cuffs, weevil spray and guns ready in the blink of an eye. “Nova, you good here?”

Nova sighs, spinning in her chair by her desk. One hand goes to her belly, where a slight swell is beginning to form. It's not noticable to the untrained eye, but she's noticed the change in her body. In a few weeks time it's definitely going to be an obvious baby bump though. “Yep. Track the weevil and give directions.”

Owen wanders over and kisses the top of her forehead. “You know you can't fight weevils in this condition.”

“I know, and I don't envy you. I just hate not being able to help you guys in case one of you gets injured.”

“You're helping here.” Owen promises, and turns to leave with the rest of the team.

Nova sighs again, watching them leave. She hates being stuck here alone, being left behind. She sits back on her chair, spinning around as she looks to the ceiling. She can see Myfanwy flying high above her. 

“I guess it's just you and me, hey girl?”

***********************

The weeks pass with very few more incidents. The weevils seem to be quieting down somewhat. There's the odd case where a weevil is spotted in the city centre, and so they have to go and flush it out, and get it back in the sewers. There was also one case where a weevil accidently got trapped in a shopping centre and caused chaos, before the torchwood team was able to break in and get it out.

The streets are quiet, the rift is quiet. For once the sudden lull in activity means they have no tech to collect, no aliens to round up, no one who needs saving. It's bizarre, and nova can't say she likes it. It puts her on edge, makes her feel as though something bad is just around the corner.

Having just entered her 12th week of pregnancy, her baby bump is just starting to show. In general, she wears slightly baggy clothes anyway, so it's not noticeable unless she wears something a bit tighter than normal. Like today

Owens birthday is coming up, and she has dragged jack out on a shopping trip. (well, jack offered to take her because he wanted to go shopping too. Shopping for what, she doesn't know, but she suspects it has something to do with Ianto.)

"Owen likes his aftershave, doesn't he?" Jack questions, picking one up and inspecting it. It's an expensive one, and one that Owen wears all the time. Unfortunately, he just bought himself a new one of that very aftershave.

"Yes, but he's got that one. And frankly, he has way too many." An entire shelf in their bathroom cupboard is taken up with Owens aftershaves. "If you want you can get it for Ianto. It's a good one."

Jack frowns. "hmm, don't think I want Ianto smelling like Owen. Will feel very strange when we're in bed together. Might feel like I'm in bed with Owen, and that's just something that doesn't bear thinking about."

Nova laughs. A hand falls to her bump. "he's not that bad in bed, but I would be very glad to know you're not thinking of my boyfriend whilst having sex."

Jack smirks as well, knowing that nova is way too generous with the information she gives away. He might be able to get some good info he can blackmail the rest of the team with. 

"Why don't you like calling him your boyfriend? Is it just that you don't like labels, or is it because if the whole, not dying thing?" Nova asks, randomly blurting out the question.

Jack shrugs. "a bit of both, I guess. When you've lived as long as I have-"

“Its hard knowing you're just going to lose someone again?” nova suggests. She cant imagine what it must be like to constantly lose the ones you love again and again, to live a thousand lifetimes, and have a thousand heartbreaks. It was bad enough living 27 years on one planet, and losing everyone she knew there. To go through that time after time….

“Something like that.”

“Then don't you think you should take what you have now and cherish it, make the heartbreak worth it?”

Jack smiles at her. “Maybe.”

***********************

Sitting at the edge of the bar, with a glass of water in her hand, nova can't help but smile as she watches her friends make absolute fools of themselves. For once, Owen had let the group take him out to celebrate his birthday. He really doesn't like celebrating, but when asked why, he said he had bad memories attached to his birthday. At that, nova had been adamant that they were going to go out and have an amazing time to replace all the sucky memories.

Owen is currently up on a little stage singing horrifically into a microphone, while Gwen and Tosh do back up dancing. Taking her drunken teammates to a karaoke bar is the best decision she's ever made.

Of course, Jack and Ianto have snuck off somewhere, probably fucking in the bathroom, but Rhys claps and cheers along to the three others on stage, keeping Nova company. Nova has become the mother of the group for the night, and doesn't regret it for a single second.

Owen chose to sing bohemian rhapsody as his karaoke song after learning Nova's earth didn't have that song. Tosh and Gwen jump in to help him sing it every now and then. 

Owen hits a high note, and starts headbanging. Nova gets her phone out and starts recording. 

“Oh, he is so going to regret this in the morning.” she laughs. She will undoubtedly be using this video as future blackmail material.

Shouting outside draws her attention away from Owen and his dancers. She turns to see two men having an argument, getting a bit physical with each other every few words. They don't seem drunk.

“The men are getting impatient!”

“‘S not my fault those creatures aint turning up no more!”

Frowning, nova raises her phone to start recording them.

“What ‘m i meant to do then?”

“Do a better job at catchin’ ‘em!”

“We’re losing money, boss. We can't keep leaving those warehouses empty…”

“I know that Kyle… come on, we cant keep talking about it here.”

Nova stops recording as the two men disappear from view. Whatever those two men are involved in, it's a sketchy business. She’ll bring it up to the team when they aren't feeling shitty from the alcohol.

“Hey Nova!”

Nova turns around to see Owen waving at her. 

“Come up, come on stage. Sing with me!” Owen calls.

“I'm not much of a singer!” Nova calls back, but gets boos from the crowd.

Groaning, she leaves her seat and goes over to Owen and begins singing a song with him, a song that she has never heard of. Ironically, she still does a better job at singing it than Owen, who at this point can barely stand up for more than three seconds without stumbling. 

It's still one of the best nights of her life.

***********************

“Jack!” Nova calls into the hub, her voice echoing throughout the room. It's early on a Monday morning, but people are usually here at this time. Owen isn't here as he’s taking a trip to get some medical supplies and equipment,but everyone else should be in the hub right now.

Frowning at the silence, Nova sits herself down at her desk and begins checking on the rift program. There’s still nothing. She checks emails and case write ups, and everything thing is done.

Sighing, and cursing her own productivity, she heads down to the archives, where a pile of unclassified junk lies waiting for her to classify it.

Some of the junk is easy to define. Broken metal platings from spaceships and other vehicles, bent pipes, communicators that don't work. Some of it is more difficult to identify, as it has no discernible buttons, no switches or dials that would indicate a function. And there are a couple that are basically just pieces of stone with alien writing on them. She puts them in a box for Tosh to work her translator magic on. 

She only stops working when she feels her stomach rumble. Looking at her watch, she realises it's time for lunch. But she still hasn't heard from any of the others? Strange. She makes her way back into the main section of the hub, and seen no one. She heads over to Ianto's coffee station. Still no sign he's been in today. 

"Hey, darling." Owen says, stepping through the cog door, into the empty hub. "have you had lunch yet? Because I bought tacos!"

Nova frowns at him, letting the whole idea of tacos fade. "Did you see anyone on your way in?"

Owens's smile slides right off his face. "no? Why? Has no one been in yet?"

Nova shakes her head. "I've been working all morning and no one's made an appearance." 

Owen places the bag of tacos on his desk, and heads for Jack's office. Pulling open the door he immediately slams it shut again. "Nova! Bring the toxins kit and get up here!" 

Nova does what he says with no hesitation, knowing it must be serious. But when she reaches Owen on the walkway, his face is white, and the door is shut. He just shakes his head at Nova when she asks. Nova dumps the toxins kit on the floor, stepping forward.

Pulling it open she is greeted by the strangest sight she's ever seen, and one that going to be glued to the back of her eyelids forever. 

Her co-workers are all having sex, together, on the floor of jack's office. 

Jack is lying on the ground, with Tosh sitting on his face clearly enjoying getting eaten out. Gwen sucks on Jack's cock, whilst Ianto fucks into her pussy from behind. 

From what Nova can see of the office floor and furnishing, they've been at it a while. 

Nova slowly shuts the door and turns to face Owen, her eyes wide and pupils blown. "what... the actual fuck?"

Owen shakes his head, but then starts laughing. "I knew Gwen and Jack had some unresolved issues, but really? Gwen's married!"

"But she's also getting it on with both Jack and Ianto, so clearly neither of them are bothered." Nova points out, and then bursts out laughing. "shouldn't we stop them?"

Owen nods his head, but then gives Nova a sly smile. "Yes, but first let's get some good blackmail material."

"Owen!" Nova whines, but makes no move to stop him as he takes his phone out his pocket. He slowly cracks open the door and begins filming. Technically, this is illegal. Technically, Torchwood is above the law. 

They get two minutes of footage. Two minutes of very incriminating footage, footage that could ruin all their reputations. That's when Owen and Nova decide they should do something before someone becomes pregnant. They've already got one Torchwood baby on the way, they don't need another just yet. 

"So, is this a private party or can anyone join?" Nova asks, pulling the door open once more. Both she and Owen walk in, trying not to look at the boobs, dicks and pussies on display, although it is difficult. 

Tosh open her eyes and smiles. Gwen looks to the door, her mouth still on jack's dick, and ianto halts all movement. Jack just keeps going, not caring. But Jack has been in far worse compromising scenarios than this. 

"Hey! Put your clothes on the desk and come join us!" Tosh says, her voice cheery and full of.lust. 

"No thanks Tosh, I'm good." Nova laughs, going over to the desk anyway. On it she's sees an alien box, thats empty. She recognises the carvings on it though. It's from an alien race of insect people. They usually breed asexually, but once every ten years or so have massive orgies spurred on by sex pollen. 

Ah. Sex pollen. 

Turning around, Nova sees Owen has begun to strip off his shirt. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Nova demands, going over to her boyfriend and dragging him out the room. Once in better lighting she can see his pupils are blown. He's high. On sex pollen. Great. 

"She said I could join in." Owen tries to defend himself, but weakly. It's clear the pollen is having too great an affect on him. But he's still lucid enough to be able to follow her instructions. 

"Owen, this is sex pollen talking. Go down to the med bay, get yourself some oxygen, and some antibiotics. You'll be fine." Antivirals or antibiotics are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to undo the effects of sex pollen, and the oxygen helps clear the lungs. 

Owen groans, but dutifully goes down to the med bay. Nova, meanwhile, goes and grabs some blankets, beforemaking her way back into the office. The easiest person to extract from the situation is tosh, so Nova pulls her away, wraps a blanket around her, and then takes her to the med bay, giving her an antiviral injection and hooking her up to the oxygen. She waits for a minute, before sure that tosh and Owen won't try and go for each other, and then she repeats the whole process with ianto. But when she goes to get Gwen, she finds Gwen and Jack having sex on jack's desk, Jack on top. A creaking sound is coming from the desk. 

Just as Gwen and Jack both climax, so does the desk, and it collapses beneath them. The crash seems to knock just enough sense into both Jack and Gwen that Nova can drag them both down to the med bay before they start trying to go at each other again. 

Once they're all hooked up to oxygen, Nova sits back, and begins eating the tacos Owen brough in earlier. She stares at her half baked colleagues. 

"Just a normal day at Torchwood, I guess."


End file.
